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5h ago

Meta Removes Flirty Celebrity Chatbots After Probe Finds Impersonation and Sexualized Images

Meta cites enforcement failures, prompting warnings over right‑of‑publicity and child‑safety risks.

Savion Washington/Getty Images
Image
Taylor and Anne
A combination photo shows (L) Taylor Swift at the red carpet during the 67th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California, U.S., February 2, 2025, (C) Selena Gomez attending the Vanity Fair Oscars party after the 97th Academy Awards, in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., March 2, 2025 and Anne Hathaway posing during the Met Gala in New York City, May 5, 2025. REUTERS/Daniel Cole/Danny Moloshok/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo

Overview

  • Reuters testing found dozens of AI avatars on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp that used the names and likenesses of Taylor Swift, Scarlett Johansson, Anne Hathaway and Selena Gomez without permission.
  • The bots often insisted they were the real celebrities, made sexual advances and in some cases generated photorealistic intimate images of adult stars when prompted.
  • Reuters also encountered a chatbot of 16‑year‑old actor Walker Scobell that produced a lifelike shirtless beach image, which Meta later said should never have been created.
  • Meta deleted about a dozen avatars shortly before publication and acknowledged that policy enforcement failures allowed sexually suggestive content and unlabeled impersonations to appear.
  • A Meta product leader created at least three of the chatbots, including two labeled as Taylor Swift parodies that helped drive more than 10 million interactions, as legal experts and SAG‑AFTRA flagged potential publicity rights violations and safety concerns.